Bucs fire Dungy after another playoff failure

ESPN ^ | 01.15.2002 | ESPN.com

[mmmmmmmm....... donuts]

keyshawn has no speed. that play at the end of the half was embarrassing, he had a clear route to the end zone and couldn't beat a safety (albeit a pro bowl safety, dawkins).

nonetheless, as an iggle fan, i'd rather have keyshawn than, say, james thrash, the #1 WR for philly. i'd rather have keyshawn that a lot of WRs in the nfl. he's a bit of a jerk but a helluva player.

[gatorman]

RedBloodedAmerican said . . . "I am surprised Dungy went before Jax' coach."

POST #12 pretty much sums up why TC is still coach at JAX.

Coughlin has worked hard building a good expansion team and the owner is a big believer in loyalty . . . well, at least for this coming season. Janguars will have to do good this year IMO or TC may be fired.

As far as Dungy . . . you got to win and WIN big in the NFL. To his credit and downfall - he made the Bucs a winner, however, the expectations of the new owners/fans were raised, unrealistically, thanks to his success in Tampa. How many times the last few years have we heard that Tampa was "expected" to be playing for all the marbles in the superbowl? ? ?

I will be very surprised if JJ doesn't have something to say about Dungy's firing though. Dungy is a CLASS COACH and he will be a Head Coach somewhere else in the NFL before too long. Any guesses where? ? ?

FRegards . . .

 

[RedBloodedAmerican]

I think he would do good in Carolina, they don't have the attitudes you might find elsewhere, I think. I wonder if the Gators wish they had waited and taken him, if he would go NCAA. Coaching NCAA seems much more rewarding than pro.

[RichardW]

This was inevitable. And it is good for Dungy. He needs a change of scenery. If he gets a good offensive coordinator at his next stop he will do just fine. Just look at the Rams. Martz was the offensive coordinator under Vermeil. Look at their respective records since 2000. The Bucs were the only team that the Rams had any real problems with. Without an offense the best defense will eventually collapse.

[Hugh Akston]

but who is better?

Parcells.

[gatorman]

RedBloodedAmerican said . . . "I wonder if the Gators wish they had waited and taken him, if he would go NCAA. Coaching NCAA seems much more rewarding than pro."

Florida's AD, Jeremy Foley did not have Dungy on his "short list" of candidates. My guess is the rationale would be that Dungy is not an advocate of the wide-open-passing-game type of offense. Dungy did not show any interest in the Florida coaching job or any other at the college level, for that matter. (They were not interested in Tom Coughlin either, and, for the same reasons.)

Besides Stoops, Shanahan, and Zook (on the "short list") had recent and closer ties to the program/network in-place at Florida. All advocates of the "Fun 'N Gun" offense.

As to your point about NCAA more rewarding than pro . . . SOS left Florida for the Redskins job at a 3 million-dollar a year increase (and, for 5 years guaranteed 25-mil package total). I would venture to say that at least monetarily for Stevie, it is going to be much more rewarding in the pros.

FRegards . . .

 

[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

That's funny - I'd rather have Thrash than Keyshawn. Thrash may not be as talented, but he goes all out every play and is a leader in the locker room. The Eagles are very close to putting it all together - if not this year, then very soon.

[wheezer]

Parcells.

My problem with Parcells is that when he leaves a team, he seems to do his best to blow it up.

I will say that he is best clock manager in the game today, and way too many coaches lose games because they don't have a clue as to how to manage (or sometimes more importantly, run out) the clock.

He'll manage a couple of good runs with the Bucs, and I'm sure the way they handle the Rams played into his decision making process.

[garv]

I like Dungy, but Parcells will have Tampa in the Super Bowl within the next two seasons. Parcells won two Super Bowls with the Giants, turned around a bad New England team and took them to the Super Bowl and had the Jets in the AFC championship game in his second season. If Testaverde didn't blow out his achilles in the first game of the 1999 season they were odds-on favorites to win the AFC

With Tampa's outstanding defensive players, big bruising running back and a quarterback who will only be asked to manage games, not win them, I'll be shocked if they don't go to the Super Bowl under Parcells.

[Ditto]

Dungy was the most successful coach in club history, compiling a 54-42 record in six seasons and leading the Bucs to the playoffs in four of the past five years.

Letting this guy go typifies why the Bucs have had a dismal history. Look to the front office, not the offence. Winning the Super Bowl involves just as much luck as it does good coaching. The playoffs are so competitive that typically, the difference between the winner and the team that gets knocked out in the first round is very small. It's like getting a hole in one. The guys who are consistantly close to the hole are the ones who will end up getting them regularly. Dungy has been close on a regular basis. The Bucs are letting a guy go who is due to have one drop. Now they'll start over with a new coaching staff and a new system. Dumb front office move.

[Hugh Akston]

I don't agree with you. I am a Giants fan, and he didn't do anything to blow us up. Well, unless you consider his recommending that one of his assistants take over, and that assistant turned out to be horrible. I think you will find that most Giants fans hold Tuna in very high regard.

And he seems to have left the Jets in pretty good shape.

He did seem to hold some animosity towards the Patriots though, there is no question.